Held for Ransom

Continuing with our "random photos with associated trips down Memory Lane until fall arrives" strategy:

I've mentioned several times that Duncan is a Chewer Extraordinaire. And he learned the fine art of holding stolen objects for ransom way back when he was just a pup. We're getting pretty good (most of the time) at keeping stealable objects out of his reach.

But I may have mentioned (once or twice or thirty times) that he's smart. And now things are getting ridiculous!

I was sitting in the family room the other day, listening for splashes, while Duncan prowled the back yard. A furry head poked through the door, chewing loudly on some unidentified object. He brought his treasure in, dropped it, looked at me to be sure I noticed, quickly scooped it up, and ran upstairs. Apparently I was too slow to react, so the furry head poked itself out of the living room, looked down the stairs at me, and smacked its chops meaningfully.

I duly went and got the ransom money treats. Duncan set his treasure down between his paws and waited politely. 

Here's what cost me a hunk of freeze-dried chicken:

Yup, it's a stone. A random pebble, about 1" across. One of hundreds, if not thousands, of pebbles from the path beside the house.

This could get expensive!